Into Oblivion
by RealityChik
Summary: Two years after Wally's death Artemis has completely delve into hero work. One night she takes on more than she can handle and pays a heavy price. In one swift move her life is shattered, possibly forever. Lost in a state of ruin, Nightwing is the only one that can seem to reach her, and when an old enemy places a bounty on her head he becomes the only one that can protect her.
1. Fall Part l

A/N: First, know that angst is not my thing. Believe me, I can write it and do a satisfactory job, but I dislike writing it because it takes too long and can drag into a thousand different directions with literally no end. This story is taking place two years from where they left off. Two years for people to come to terms with things, so I will only spend so much energy on the angsty part. I don't want this story to be stuck in the shadow of the past.

Second, Spitfire was my OTP. But, you see, I have unsatisfiedis. A condition where you desperately want something to happen, and it does, but then you are disappointed. I wanted those two to hook up on the first episode, but then they did... and things weren't fun anymore... Anywho, I just always want the couples that don't belong together to be together (i.e. RobinxRaven, KataraxZuko, etc.)

This story is a 'what if' scenario. I promise to keep the characters IN character. I mean, with the way things have gone so far in the show, you have to admit there is potential for those two. And that's exactly what prompted me to write this story. It's a big challenge, but I promise I will try my hardest to bring this story to life for you , if you are looking for realistic romance mixed with adventure at every turn, well, you've come to the right place.

Cover art for this story -

This first chapter establishes the grounds for the story and gets things started, so of course, the past must be addressed. That is all. Please, enjoy.

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**Into Oblivion**

_Fall_

_Part 1_

There was ice in the air, a bitter, chilling kind of ice. It was the kind of cold that was unrelenting, the kind that burrowed all the way down to the bone, not intending to leave. It was as if time itself was suspended in its frozen grip. Nothing was moving around it, it seemed as though all sound was trapped as well. One would probably believe it if not for a sudden disturbance in the air. Steam from multiple lungs filled the air with heat before it vanished a second later. Footsteps echoed across the gravel as a large band of men passed a small alley, too preoccupied with the cold to take a glance into it. They were big, dark, dangerous. You could almost smell the intimidation on them. However, they, with all their combined power, were no match for the small figure hiding in the shadows.

It would have been so easy to take them out, to knock them all to the cold ground without a hint of an effort, but that was not her objective. No, tonight was all about stealth. Once they disappeared out of sight, Artemis stepped into the light and pulled out her grapple. With a quick glance on either side of her, she shot it towards the roof of the three story building she had been heading for. Once it was secure, she made her way up the wall quickly. No sound, completely undetected.

Once she had the cover the roof offered, Artemis looked down at her belt to double check that she still had a signal. She did, and that meant she was ready to go. For a moment her steamy breath blocked her view from the details on the screen. She couldn't remember the last time she was this cold, the last time it was this unnaturally cold anywhere on the east coast. The best way to describe how she felt right now would be chilled to the bone. Of course, her suit had excellent insulation, but it could only keep her so warm.

She placed the device securely back into her belt and brushed the discomfort of the biting cold out of her mind and continued her silent trek across the building tops, undetected by the unsuspecting figures below her. A sudden different kind of cold rush coursed through her body, and she felt her muscles clench in anticipation for what was to come. This was dangerous, this was exhilarating. This night had been planned down to every detail. Of course, she didn't know it was going to be_ this_ night until a few hours ago, but she was ready. She knew exactly what she was doing and she couldn't help but feel that this bust was going to go down without a hitch.

Suddenly, the cold silence was interrupted by a faint, nearly inaudible beep that only she could hear. Her jaw instantly clenched as apprehension took over her. She had called for radio silence for a reason, the only reason they'd break that is if something had happened, something bad. She tapped the small communicator in her ear to signal to the person that she was on the line.

Artemis stopped moving and took cover by a cement block as a voice filled her ears, "Tigress, listen, are you sure you don't want anyone with you as back up?"

She couldn't place the voice to a face, but right then it didn't matter. She answered back quietly, "I told you not to break radio silence."

"I know, but things are getting pretty tight over here. There are at least triple the amount of mercs you said there would be, and that's just in our area."

"Is is something you can handle?" she deadpanned.

There was a pause before he answered, "Yeah, we can handle it, but there's a real bruiser headed in your direction. I don't know who he is, but I'm guessing he's trouble." She didn't answer back, they knew better than this. She could handle the 'bruiser' they were talking about. That last comment was bait, and she was not about to take it especially in the mood she was now in. Plus, If their link were to be hacked, their mission would be an instant failure, and to risk that to voice concerns they had already discussed? The voice continued, "Listen, all I'm saying is that one of us could go with you in case things go south."

"We've already discussed this. The more people that go in there, the more risk it is that one of us will be spotted. This is too important and too fragile to take that chance."

"I don't think-"

Artemis quickly cut him off, "My decision is final. Do not break radio silence again."

She reached up and tapped the link to close it. As she moved from her cover spot and continued on her silent pace, her mind did an instant replay on what was just said. The amount of spite in her voice was probably unnecessary, he was only watching out for her. She knew that, and she could understand it probably better than some, but it didn't make it okay to call her up after they had just been briefed on how important this mission was.

Harsh? Yes, but moments like these called for it.

For a moment, her mind drifted to what would happen after this operation goes down. That spout was no doubt listened to by all the others and maybe even more who were running ops back at base. She clenched her jaw as she considered it. Usually, it's considered normal for people to snap at each other. Normal for people to be grumpy regardless of their reasons. It was different when it came to her for some reason. Wait no, she knew the reason why.

This wasn't going to look good for her. She was already thought of as 'unstable' by some. Her techniques as of late were considered reckless, but by who's definition? It always seemed to come from those who were closest to her, or more often, those who were more powerful and more skilled than her. She wanted to roll her eyes every time someone gave her the 'danger' speech. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into each time she took on a case load. Some of them were dangerous for just her to handle alone, but she knew that. It's a small shame that she admits that is why she chose those cases sometimes.

She's been looking for every opportunity to challenge herself lately, she can't say why though. It's like every time she finishes one case, she can't seem to rest until another one comes up equally as challenging or more. She was aware this kind of behavior was exactly what was putting her in the lime light. Her friends are worried that she's burying herself in her work. Their worried what it's doing to her.

It bothers her to no end how they've suddenly taken it upon themselves to question her wellbeing every time she took on a case. Just because she didn't have super strength or couldn't read minds didn't mean she was incapable. She was a grown adult, she could handle herself. Backup, no, this wasn't a sudden thing. This had been going on for quite awhile now. Ever since that day two years ago. That day that changed everything for her, nearly everything about her…

She fought a sudden wave of emotion threatening to emerge. Her pace unintentionally slowed and her footsteps could suddenly be heard. She stopped short and took a long, chilled breath. She couldn't deal with this now, of all times and places. She pushed the invading pain back into a dull ache, right where it belonged, where it had been for the past year. Her quiet stride continued.

Without even looking for a memory, Black Canary's words filled her mind.

"_Bottling things up is a treatment for right now, but it's not a cure. Sometime in the future it's going to come at you tenfold." _

"_Artemis, I'm worried…"_

I'm worried. She couldn't tell you how often she hears those words these days. She's heard them from nearly everyone who's close enough to call her their friend; even some who don't even know her well tell her that. She'll bottle that pain up until the day she's ready to deal with it; if it even comes, no sooner and especially not on anyone else's terms but her own.

She wasn't in denial; she knew exactly why they were worried for her. She knew why she was being watched like a hawk on missions like these. Trying to find meager excuses for the way she's acted on missions lately was a fruitless waste of time in her eyes, and who was she kidding. Herself along with those closest to her know why she does the things she does, no matter how she tried to define it. The honest truth is that after Wally's death two years ago, she sunk herself into hero work, so much that it's become an obsession. Months of sitting on the couch with Dinah across from her has made her recognize it, and in some ways, come to terms with certain aspects.

She didn't become this _just_ because she lost the one she loved most (though it played a vital part). The real reason is because she's always wanted to do this. A hero's life is something she's wanted to lead for awhile, before that it was to be in the League of Shadows. The only thing that truly stopped her was Wally and the 'life' they were going to have. The hard truth was that there was none of that life left so she turned to the only other thing she knew best.

Wally's death was the reason she turned to this, but it was just the first on a long line of things that suddenly went bad in her life. Not even a year after that, her mother had passed. It didn't stop there though, nearly everyone she considered family was disappearing before her eyes. She tried so very hard to turn to her sister, hoping that now that she had a child, she'd give up her escapades with that man they called father, but she didn't. Out of the blue, and for reasons she can only guess, Jade completely abandoned her daughter, and left her on Roy's doorstep without a word, quite literally. Last she heard, she was a full-fledged assassin. All ties from her past life she had severed and left to burn.

To say it was difficult to come to terms with the death of people around her, people she was so close to was an unbelievable understatement. She had succumbed to grief for awhile at first. Looking on the bright side, thinking about other possibilities that the future may hold; she tried to think positively like that. However, no matter how hard she tried, the pain slipped in and didn't leave. Months, that's how long she spent alone in despair. It sickens her to know she use to look down on people like that, people that couldn't find the strength to even get out of bed in the morning. She always saw it as weakness, until she went through it herself.

After a very short time of trying to be the hero Tigress, she had decided to go back into retirement, to try and hold to her and Wally's dead promise, hoping to find comfort in it. But she didn't. In fact, now that she looks back, it was probably what caused her the most pain. All it was was trying hard to hold onto something that didn't exist.

Friends would come by and try to coax her out of her pit, but nothing worked. No one was able to strike the cord that would make her care once again. She truly believes that she would have spent the rest of her life like that if not for one day. Nightwing had dropped by uninvited in civvies one morning just like many others had before, he had even come by a few times before. Expecting another plea for her to join the world again, she was surprised and slightly shocked when the usual care had left his covered eyes. She could tell something was different, he wasn't there to plea. He wasted no time on getting to his point, and told her about a case he needed her help with.

Almost without considering it, she told him no, emphasizing the fact that she was done with that life. For the first time out of anyone else he went a step further and told her she needed to do _something_ with her life. Anger was all she could remember from that encounter; he was crossing a line no one had dared get close to before. And the ironic thing was, he was probably the only one that could say those words to her without forsaking their friendship. She was offended when he said that he understood her on some level. A flat no was his answer, and it was obvious there was a note in her tone that told him to get out.

He dropped a file on the table before disappearing through the door. At first, it had stayed there all day untouched. She tried to busy herself that day to keep from thinking about it, and kept on replaying reasons why she shouldn't even consider it. But it didn't leave her mind all day. After trying and failing to distract herself, she inadvertently ended up at her table with the black folder. She sat and stared at that file all night, with an internal battle playing out inside her. One side eventually won. She was exhausted, but at the break of dawn, she grabbed it and began going through it.

Sometimes, when she ponders the events that happened that day, she can't quite understand how quickly she got back into the system. She tries to tell herself that it was a hard choice, but it wasn't. Dinah had told her that maybe she was just waiting for someone to bring her back in, taking some of the choice from her. She was probably right.

Artemis called him up and said she was in. Nightwing had saved her that day. Saved her from wallowing in pity for the rest of her life. He had everything ready when she once again donned her costume and met up with him. They started on the case, and she was shocked how easy it was to slide back into the familiar pace. As she worked alongside him, she realized that anyone else was totally capable of helping him, heck, he could have done it himself.

She knew what he was doing, and it worked. Once the case was solved, she looked into another one on her own. She found a distraction, and that's what she did for a long time. The fierce pain had turned into a dull ache when she had something to do, had a goal, a purpose.

Things weren't exactly daisies and sunshine after that, but they were getting better. However, her life took another turn for the worst when her mother passed. She was finally free from the clutches of that horrible disease that stole her life from her. But her small joy for her mother only went so far. After those events, she completely dove into hero work, submersing herself into it all. The pain of losing her mother was different from the pain of losing her lover, but it was equally as damaging, if not worse in some areas.

She received a very large sum of money from her mother who had been saving it up for a very long time come to find out. It was easily enough to pay for the rest of her college and an entire year's worth of comfortable living. Artemis hadn't even touched it yet. She didn't know if she was ever going to.

She had consciously made the choice to have hero work become her priority. While it benefited for the job, it took a huge toll on the other side of her life. She had the choice to drop out of college and do league work, but that's not what her mother, or Wally, would have wanted. She transferred to a school that offered a good course for part time goers. It was across the country from where she had been, and a little closer to a home she use to know.

It wasn't as hard to pack up and leave the apartment her and Wally had shared, in fact, it was easy, refreshening. There were too many painful memories there; it felt good to relocate and try to start again, for the most part. She moved to a city only 30 miles from Gotham. She was attending part time college at Court Royal University in Bludhaven. While her attempt to start anew had looked promising in the beginning, it was clear that the pain had followed her all those miles away.

Jade disappeared after that, Artemis knew in her heart that it was because their mother had died. Jade had tried to express that she didn't care, but she did. When all contact ceased from her, it was like someone had blown a candle out for good in her life. She was alone after that, she had nobody.

Dinah and Oliver had stepped in almost immediately. They welcomed her into their family unconditionally. She was invited to spend every holiday with them; they even asked her to join them on some of their trips. It took a long time to accept this kind of gift they were offering. She was an adult, she could take care of herself. She tried to deal with things on her own, but almost without trying, she found herself confiding in Dinah more than anyone else. She couldn't understand where that level of care came from, and why she was so freely offering it to Artemis.

All those long nights of showing up at their door and talking with Dinah for hours on end, crying, and expressing things she tried to bury. It wasn't like her to do that and it wasn't easy to let it out, but sometimes it was and that's all the time she needed. Dinah's advice had saved her sanity on more occasions than she cared to count. Oliver acted as though she really was his niece and always had been.

Dinah and Oliver weren't the only ones that stepped in, in fact, Nightwing was the first. The weeks following Wally's death they had been together the most. She doesn't remember what happened exactly. They didn't have a massive heart to heart talk, and there wasn't a lot of crying. He was just there, offering silent support as they mourned Wally. She offered what support she could to him in return, he was his best friend after all.

The months following they stayed in contact. They would call each other up on occasion to see how the other was doing. It was hard for her to see him though for a long while. Every time she looked at him she saw Wally. They were so different, but the same in so many ways. It pained her that she pushed him back to a point, but the hurt was too much to bear whenever he was around.

In some ways, Nightwing tried to fill some areas that were left open when Wally was gone. They would see each other sometimes, and he'd be sure to bring his humor with him. He can't understand how much she appreciated that at times. He still had that boyish humor about him at times even though his age and stature would say different. In time, she came to accept his help, she even started to reach out to him.

Artemis's corner of her mouth twitched upwards as a thought crossed her mind. He had even given her a rose on Valentine's day for the past two years, he had said that a pretty girl like her shouldn't be alone on V-day. She had lightly laughed both times and accepted it, making that day at least somewhat bearable. It was a friendly gesture, but it meant a lot.

Her small smile faded. Though she appreciated the ways he reached out to her sometimes, other times she wished he would stop. She constantly questions what he really thinks whenever he spends time with her, or did little acts of kindness. Sometimes, when they were together whether alone or with their friends, he would stiffen up and his attention would wander far away from where they were; he would even shut her out on occasion when they spoke. It made her uncomfortable. There was a time when he went weeks without calling her. She got the impression that he felt that he was obligated to try and be there for her. As if he didn't want to, but he did for the sake of his passed friend. It made her feel like she was a burden he didn't want to bear sometimes. She would never question him about it, though. That drove a rift in their friendship.

Things were getting better to a point, but she was still stuck. To combat this she turned to caseloads to drown herself in them. Every waking moment of her life seemed to revolve around them. And she didn't mind it at all because any moment she started to come back to the real world, the loneliness and pain were too much to handle.

No, it was suffocating.

Escaping into that work was the only way she knew how to deal with the pain, and she was not about to give it up.

Of course, that very thing was what made her a concern for others once again. Her obsession was attracting attention. First, her friends had wanted her out and busying herself and once she was, they wanted her to stop. She worked closely alongside Kaldur for a time and Nightwing when he would join in. She even took control of the team whenever Kaldur had other business. After awhile, they told her that she needed to take a break, and that she was dedicating too much time to her cases. She didn't of course. How could she? What else was there besides heroics now?

After so much concern and attention she didn't want, she made the choice to go solo. A choice she made only recently in the past two months. She'd still pick up cases that the League came across, but she avoided partnering up whenever possible. Lately though her judgment was being questioned. Yes, she understood how they would be worried for her. She had been in many close calls lately. She's been in the hospital more times in six months then she has been in her whole life, but the worst it came to were only minor flesh wounds that usually healed up within a month.

The cases she's been taking on have been dangerous, but still enough for her to handle. The most bothering thing about it was the fact that people equal in her skill level weren't under the microscope. There was one night when Dinah had brought up the question everyone was avoiding. No, she wasn't suicidal regardless of what everyone believed. She just had more dedication than she use to.

The one thing that kept the League from grounding her was the fact that she kept bringing in results and good ones too. Her spout with whoever was on the other end of the line would be noted no doubt earning her a negative point or two, but after tonight it wouldn't matter.

Even now she was on a case that was classified as 'advanced' and high risk level. Only big Leaguers took those on, and even they had partners. However, the classifieds were usually only estimated. They could never actually guess what they were getting themselves into. This one though was different for her, she had an advantage in this one that no one else shared.

Artemis stopped by the building edge she was headed for. She kept her head low to avoid the prying eyes of those below. The building across the pathway was where she intended to go. It was heavily guarded, and on any other night it wouldn't be a problem. But tonight she had to sneak past them and get inside undetected. This was the very reason she wanted to go alone. It was far too risky to bring a group.

She quickly changed her gear to stealth mode and wasted no time as she shot a silent line across to the other building. Once it was securely attached, and attention was diverted away from her area, she jumped up onto it and quickly walked across.

The reason this case was different for her was because she was going after someone she use to work with. Tonight, she was going after Deathstroke. And she intended to bust a deal that he was operating.

He was trying to acquire a bomb that had miraculously found its way onto the black market. Intel said that he was meeting with the man who had the bomb to trade information and money. Of course, she knew the real assailant was who ever hired Slade to run ops. Information about that person was nonexistent, their only lead was the mercenary in charge. She would bet money that Slade hadn't even met his employer yet, or known his full identity.

That's the way things worked when it came to hiring practices like this. Especially when a WMD was involved, or rather a nuclear bomb.

Artemis quietly brushed behind one of the guards on the roof. Her heart began to pound. It was this point of the mission that she craved most, this sort of excitement that came with knowing that the climax was coming soon.

She quickly ducked down and placed her back against an unnaturally cold concrete wall as she heard approaching footsteps. Two large men holding their guns ready and pressed against their chests passed her without noticing. She patiently waited till they were out of sight before she continued on. When a door came into sight she headed straight for it, exactly where she knew it would be.

All that worrying people do for her. All that concern they throw at her, it was unnecessary. Her track record had been near perfect for the past year. She's gotten this far without any problem whatsoever. Everything was in place, ready to go.

Kneeling down near the doors edge, she gripped the lock and took out a pick from her belt. Still keeping her attention on her surroundings, she began her work.

She wasn't looking for respect from people, that's not why she shied away from their concern. Her reasons for pushing things to a limit were her own. There was no need to prove herself, after all, who would she prove herself to? Her aim, her 'motto' for when she went on a mission was to just get the job done. A faint _click_ filled the cold air signaling the lock's surrender.

Artemis put the pick back into her belt and slid the lock off the door. Tonight was going to go down without a hitch.

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A/N: Stay tuned for more. If you have a moment, don't hesitate to share your thoughts good, bad, or both.

Until next time.


	2. Fall Part ll

A/N: I want to thank everyone for the reviews/favs/alerts. You guys are great, really. You bring warm fuzzies to my heart. Anyways, back to business- This story features Black Mask from Batman Under the Redhood, other Gotham city villains, some from comics, and Slade from Teen Titans (Okay, I know that Slade is in Young Justice already and Teen Titans is geared toward the likes of my 8 year old brother, but seriously guys, nothing beats Ron Perlman's Slade. He is a far more sinister, cunning, and just all around impressive villain than Young Justice's. They way they portray him in the first few seasons of Teen Titans is amazing. Therefore, he will be taking the spotlight in this story.)

Hm. What a whopper this chapter is. Enjoy.

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**Into Oblivion**

_Fall_

_Part 11_

The smell of rotting air was thick around her, making it blatantly obvious this massive warehouse had lain untouched in years. If not for the below zero temperature freezing the mold, pneumonia, and whatever else was growing in the shadows, the air would have been toxic, deadly even.

The only light leading her on her path was the full moon. Its light was seeping in through the boarded up windows on the wall beside her, illuminating the broken hallway. The sight before her was something out of a horror movie, promising nothing but fear at the end. Artemis wasn't scared though, she knew where this path was leading her.

When a door came into sight she reached down to grab her lock pick, intent on getting through. Grabbing a hold of the cold metal she was surprised when she twisted the knob and found that it was already unlocked, broken even. It gave no struggle against her as she opened it. She was met with a gust of warm air and faint artificial light as she opened the door quietly, quickly scanning the area for any threats. There weren't any as she had already suspected.

Though she was safe in her current spot, the danger she had come for was below her. Hushed voices and conversations were carrying on nearly forty feet below her, hushed voices that were unaware of the figure above them. Without a sound, Artemis slowly moved along the narrow platform to get to a better vantage point. Though there was light in the room, nothing but the glow of it reached her. The lights were hanging on twelve foot cords from the ceiling, designed to brighten the room below her. Their brightness was too great to look past, the light was what kept her concealed.

After getting to a good spot on the high maintenance platform, she immediately scanned what looked like over a hundred faces below her. Only about a quarter of them were important, the rest were just hired protection. Different groups were huddled next to each other and all were standing on the side of a massive round table. The arms deal they were all here for hadn't started yet and she could tell because of the different conversations going on.

Instantly, she recognized some of the higher half. There were a few crime bosses from the west coast she could tell. Shade was here. Metropolis's boss's son Anthony Mannheim. However, the person that stole the show here was Two Face, who was surrounded by at least fifteen heads of protection. Other criminals she could not recognize were keeping their distance from him. It wasn't a surprise he was here. He was always trading on the black market, drugs, weapons, anything.

Reaching into her belt, she pulled out a small recording device and began to set it up. There was one face she didn't see here that worried her, well, masked face. Deathstroke wasn't among the high class criminals and terrorists below her. Though he was probably outside the room, the fact that he was missing worried her.

Entering in the commands for the recorder, her mind drifted momentarily. She knew that once it comes to it, there were going to be a lot of people flooding the place, police and vigilantes alike. It was unknown just how much muscle was going to be here tonight on extremely short notice. After all, Slade, her target, wasn't the only target here. The reason why plans were loosely put together was because Intel had just come in a few hours ago that there was an arms deal going down tonight.

Many cases had suddenly merged. Not everyone knew exactly what was being traded, information was still circling around. But there was one thing that everyone knew. They would grab who they could, but the bomb and the people with information about it were the biggest and most dangerous item being traded tonight. Slade was the one that was going to be purchasing it if he won the bid. It was still unclear how many bettors wanted the devastating weapon. Because of the high risk danger it gave, it was deemed the priority. The plan was to find the man who knew about the bomb, who was planning on selling it to Slade, and apprehend him, anything else would be a bonus.

This was dangerous territory to be treading in. Especially with so many that wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in her head the moment they saw her. Artemis wasn't worried though. She had already rehearsed how this night was going to go down a hundred times in her head, and things were going to plan perfectly. Regardless of the danger below, it was just a matter of time before they closed in on this.

During the short time she had worked alongside Slade she was able to pick up on a few of his techniques. He was always two steps ahead of everyone it seemed like. Going into a situation blind or without a plan was unacceptable in his eyes. She wouldn't be surprised if he already made a deal to get the bomb and was just there to save face. In order to stay in control, whoever the seller is is no doubt going to be close to Slade.

She looked up when two large doors burst open at the far side of the room. She peered down to see who the incoming group was. It was a large one and the way they walked into the room was clear that they held some sort of authority. Lesser buyers were stepping aside for them. When she recognized the leader at the front it was easy to understand why. It was Black Mask storming in at the front. Odd, since that made now two of Gotham's crime lords in attendance. Not to mention crime lords who were not on good terms with each other.

His stride already gave away that he was upset and his loud voice only confirmed it, "I wanna know who's in charge of this trade!" The room quieted down as all heads turned toward him. With no answer, Black Mask peered around and chose a victim standing close to him. He grabbed him roughly by the collar and continued angrily, "Where is he?! I want to speak to the bastard in charge!"

"Take it easy man," said the man strained tightly into the dangerous criminal's grip.

On the other side of the room in a calm voice, Shade answered him, "He's not here yet, Black Mask. None of us know who the supplier is yet."

"That's the biggest lie if I ever heard one. If none of you know who the supplier is then who was it that contacted you and told you about this?!"

"It was anonymous. The invitation to this went out to anyone who had the means to get the information. The only thing we know is that the supplier has traded here before. He should be here any minute," said Shade.

"He'd better be, so I can wring his filthy neck for not telling me about this!"

With his last remark he shoved the man he was savagely gripping hard to the ground. The man quickly got up and out of Black Mask's way, clearly not wanting to challenge the pissed crime lord for humiliating him. For a moment Black Mask let out a string of inaudible mumbles she could not make out as he simmered in his spot. Not a minute later, his posture changed as he seemed to lock eyes with Two Face, who was now mirroring his angered stance. Instantly, Two Face challenged him, "Who let you in here, Mask? Last I checked dealing slots were closed."

"Me?! I've had a spot in these trades for years. If anything, I'm wondering who let a sorry excuse of a rat like you in here!"

All heads turned to Two Face to see his reaction. There was none, and he remained silent as he slowly crossed his arms. He tilted his chin up and briefly puffed his chest out. Though it may not have been intentional, it was a subluminal message displaying power, daring his offender.

"Oh, I get it now. How much did you pay off the supplier not to send me an invite to this?" asked Black Mask in venomous, calmer voice.

"I didn't pay off anyone. Some people just aren't cut out to run in the big leagues."

Artemis was waiting for Black Mask to pull out a gun right then, but a voice interrupted the tension, loud enough for most to hear, "Well, isn't this a sight for sore eyes. We might as well buy some popcorn and pull out a camera with the sort of drama that's going to unfold here tonight."

The young voice belonged to one of the crime bosses of Metropolis. Well, his son's voice.

"Quiet, Mannheim. None of us are looking for trouble here. Especially tonight," piped in Shade.

With a smirk, Mannheim continued, "Shame, it's not every day you get to see Gotham's biggest crime bosses in the same room ready and armed. From what I've heard circulating underground, the battle of supremacy between you two is quite something."

"If you plan on walking out of here tonight, I'd keep a lid on it kid," said Two Face, obviously perturbed by the younger criminal's boldness and interruption.

"The dynamics of the Crime Capitol of America have always fascinated me. I even once considered starting a small string of operation there, Metropolis is so boring these days."

"Boring? You seem to have forgotten that you are already in competition with Luthor," said Shade.

"Luthor? Hah! He's no crime lord. He specializes in corporate criminality, and his agenda lately has been getting himself into the White House, he's no competition. But he's not entirely useless. He does keep Superman busy for us."

The younger man began to slowly pace along the room, drawing even more attention to him as the room quieted down to hear the conversation.

"You're young Mannheim, so I'll brush that off as a youth's immaturity. You should be lucky you have so little competition. The way you romanticize it is foolish," said Shade.

"A little competition is healthy, it keeps things fun." His eyes darted towards a much larger man near the right of him as he boldly continued, "Black Mask, I'm sure you can agree with me. From what I recall, it was competition that brought you to power."

He must have a death wish for taunting Black Mask in the foul mood he was already in. A dark look crossed his black, scarred face making him look all the more intimidating. "Watch your tone Mannheim. I'd have no problem with getting rid of you by the time this night's over," he folded his arms and straightened up as he momentarily glanced to his side, "Besides, If anyone's going to be pulling a trigger tonight, it's not gonna start with me."

It was obvious his remark was directed towards Two Face, and he wasted no time on calling him out on it, "You believe I'm that foolish, Mask?"

"So, you admit you would continue your turf war here so long as you're not the first to shoot. _I'm_ almost tempted to pull the trigger first, just to see what would happen."

"It would be your last wish," said Black Mask.

"Wouldn't count on it."

Two Face raised his voice slightly, "You know the rules, but feel free to break 'em. Leaves one less competitor for me to squash when we start dealing."

"In the world of crime, there are no rules."

"There are here. Anyone who starts a conflict is banned from the black market trade. You're new here so I wouldn't expect you to know such things," said Shade.

"I have no intension of being kicked out from this club, I'm merely making light conversation." He stopped his pacing in front of Two Face. "Tell me Two Face. What was is like to have the police shut down your drug ring in Gotham? See, mine is in jeopardy and I'd like some friendly advice on how to combat it."

"Quiet, scum. The rules only apply to deadly force so I can still have both sides of your jaw broken," he threatened.

"Oh, you wouldn't want to do that. You see, I have information you might find interesting."

"Phtt. I doubt it."

"What was it? Two nights ago that your last supplier was caught?"

Two Face narrowed his eyes and raised his hand slightly, signaling for his men to grab the young offender. Mannheim seemed unfazed by it as he continued, "Good for the police in that aspect. It's just too bad that they found new suppliers so quickly."

Two Faces goons grabbed him and twisted his arm uncomfortably so that he could not move. Though it was obvious the young criminal was in pain, he still fought to keep a sly look on his face. "The ring was shut down, there are no suppliers except for low lifes. And that ring is going to be mine again come tomorrow morning."

With a strained voice, he answered, "That's going to be a problem, since the ring is _already_ under new management."

Two Face was silent as he just gave him an blank look, "Oh, haven't you heard the news yet? It's controlled by a different group now. Isn't that right, Black Mask?"

"That's impossible," he said, disbelieving.

"Is it?"

Two Face locked eyes with Black Mask as they both sized each other up in silence. With still air as his answer, his face soon changed to a more sinister look as he unfolded his arms and spoke, "I had plans to make a deal tonight, Black Mask, but if what this scum's saying is true, I just might be tempted to pull out my gun and kill you now."

"Go ahead and try, Two Face. Your operation style was pathetic. I didn't have to try hard to get my resources back from your disgusting, weak grip on them. Their mine again, and right now all that's left is to burn the garbage left over."

Tension was back at an uncomfortable high in the room again before it was interrupted once again, but this time by a different set of doors. A few large figures entered the room. Once they were in, the doors behind them were shut and locked. Artemis clenched her fists as she saw Slade among them. He was here, and that's all she cared about. His followers fanned out around the room as he stopped in front of everyone, his entire stature radiating confidence and power. Everyone seemed to calm down and with a slight of hand from Two Face, his goons tossed Mannheim to the ground. Undisturbed by it, he got up and brushed himself off with a smirk as he returned to his place.

"Slade, I should have known you'd be the supplier," said Black Mask.

Without acknowledging him, Slade spoke, "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We will waste no time on formalities tonight and get the deal going." His lone eye flickered towards Black Mask, "I am not the supplier tonight, but I am representing him and his interests. Any business, any concerns can be addressed through me and me alone. Let us begin."

* * *

The platform of the large roof was busy with activity. The small amount of movement brought some sort of life to this unbearably cold night. People were scurrying in many directions at a quick pace. But it wasn't excitement that they were emanating. It was something else. The stress and tension each person was carrying put Nightwing on edge.

On the outside, they looked confident and prepared. It wasn't their posture or their pace that gave away their worry. Anyone would have been fooled, but Nightwing knew these people. And he knew that their silence was the giveaway. They weren't talking at all. There were a few orders here and there, but they generally remained silent.

He knew that the team could handle going in on their own, they were trained, they were ready. They had been chomping at the bit to be the ones to go, so why now where they on such high alert? Yes, it's true they had little time to prepare for this. No one knew they were going to be moving out until just an hour ago, but they shouldn't be acting like this.

"Who's going to be piloting the bioship?" Nightwing asked to no one in particular. Truthfully, it didn't matter and he didn't really care. He threw the question out to test the waters, to try to get someone to start communicating with him.

"Wonder Girl is. She has the most experience," said Robin in a flat voice.

He kept eye contact a moment longer with him, making it clear to Robin that he was waiting for something. He meant for his lingering gaze to be an invitation for Robin to tell him whatever was stressing him. They had done it before. Both of them were trained to be highly attuned to body language, and speaking with covered eyes was something they had mastered over the short years.

Robin returned his gaze for a fraction of a second before looking away. In that short exchange, though he may have tried to hide it, Nightwing knew that there was something going on.

Nightwing grabbed his arm to stop him as he passed. He pressed him for information once again, "Do you have a plan?"

"In a manner of speaking."

Nightwing nodded as he let go of him. Whatever it was he didn't want to share, or he just didn't feel the need to. Robin continued, "Are you coming with us?"

His question surprised Nightwing. They had already discussed the plans briefly. He knew he wasn't coming. Why was he asking? Giving him a curious look, he answered, "No, I'm going to stay here and listen in. I'll direct you guys where and when I can, but it's mostly going to be up to your judgment."

The hum of the bioship starting up rang through the air, and with it, Robin turned on his heels and followed his team as they began to board the airship. Whatever the issue was, Robin could handle it. His lack of reaching out told him so. Then again, he could just be downsizing the problem. With a sigh, Nightwing brushed it off as he also turned and headed towards the doors to get inside as well. He had done this hundreds of times, sending them off then going back to the routing station. It was beginning to become routine for him.

Even though the distance between them was growing he could hear a faint exchange between Robin and Beast Boy.

"Static says they've already set up surveillance. He said to just wait out in the bay till they give the signal," said Beast Boy.

Nightwing stopped in his tracks.

"Alright, tell them ETA is twenty minutes," answered Robin.

Nightwing turned on his heels and shouted, "Wait!"

Both Robin and Beast Boy turned towards him as he approached. "Static and his team were supposed to be inside surveillance. Why did he contact you?"

Once the team was on the inside, there was supposed to be radio silence. The only reason they broke it was if there was a problem.

"Static and the other's _are_ on surveillance. They're just on the outside," said Beast Boy.

"Then who's inside?"

"Tigress is. I thought you knew."

Confusion crossed across Nightwing's face. "Why did she go in alone?" It didn't make sense. It was against protocol, she knew that.

"I don't know. All Static told me was that at the last minute she went in alone. They've been trying to reach her but she's not responding."

Nightwing shifted his gaze at Robin, whose face remained unreadable. This was the problem that was stressing him. No wonder he was quiet, this wasn't good news. He reached up and tapped his com, "Static, this is Nightwing, give me an update."

"Things are really quiet here. We are on top of surveillance, but we're kind of in the dark. Tigress decided to go in at the last minute but she's gone dark. She's not answering any of our attempts to reach her," he hesitated for a moment, "There's also another problem. There was some sort of commotion at one end of the yard. We don't know what happened, but security everywhere has vanished. It's too quiet out here, it's not normal. I don't know whether or not to send everyone in or wait for Tigress to contact us."

Tigress had chosen to go solo recently, but had volunteered to be the leader in this. Since she was placed in charge she was supposed to be coordinating. Yes, the team did have experience in dealing with hot situations, but they were now blind without a leader, who apparently just went under.

"Stay put and wait for a signal from either her or one of us, Nightwing out."

As soon as he was off the line, he switched over to Tigress's. The line was blocked and there was no answer. It could only mean one of two things. She was either truly ignoring everyone's hails, or she was in trouble. He didn't want to consider the first. Her antics lately had been overly aggressive and bold, but shutting out her team and abandoning them without a plan was crossing a line. Her overconfidence lately has had him worried, he just truly hoped she wasn't ignorant enough to take it on herself, there was too much at stake.

"This isn't good," said Robin, "If she's not answering, how are we supposed to know if the supplier really does have the bomb?"

"And if she's been captured..." started Beast Boy.

Nightwing considered the situation and let out a stressed sigh. He reached up and tapped his com once again, "Aqualad, did you hear that?"

"Yes," he answered. "Her link is down. It's been shut off, and without her there is no leader."

Nightwing was silent for a moment before answering back, "Find someone to cover my spot. I'm going on site."

Robin nodded, clearly giving no protest to his decision. He and Beast Boy turned and entered the ship. Nightwing followed a second later.

Something was telling him that she had not been captured. Things would be getting out of hand by now if she was discovered. No, she was in there and for some reason was blocking all communication. What was she doing?

* * *

Black Mask slammed his hands on the table in front of him, the sound echoing through the room startling the criminals around him. He lifted up one hand and pointed his finger at a woman standing on the other end of the circular table. "Loyalty isn't a guarantee it's just going to land on your lap. I'll match that bid and raise it by ten thousand."

A scowl crossed the woman's face he had just attacked as she didn't speak any further, clearly not wanting to raise her bid any higher. All eyes turned to the man who had the power to decide between the two. This had been going on for quite some time now. Bids for anything arms related had been thrown around for nearly a half hour.

Though some of the things being brought to the table were worrisome, her attention had stayed on one area and one area alone.

Slade had been keeping the debates cool as they progressed, but that was about it. Nothing of note or any sort of importance had happened with Slade or anyone with him. Artemis couldn't place the men surrounding him. Some of them appeared to be there simply for protection, others were questionable. Her gut feeling was that the man who knew about the bomb was one of the many standing close to him. She had some guesses, but he remained incognito for the time being.

Slade's firm stature had remained still and in control, nothing he did gave anything away. However, it changed slightly when the previous debate ended and Shade began to speak, "We have had awhile now to trade amongst ourselves," He put his fists onto the table and leaned down, "The night is still young, but I want to start speaking of the Cerberus missile that was put onto the trade."

A few people in the room exchanged looks with each other. Artemis narrowed her eyes at the sight. There it is. Nearly everyone's face had piqued with interest at those words. She didn't expect this many people to know about it. This really _was_ the main subject of the night.

The young crime boss from Metropolis spoke up with disbelief in his voice, "Cerberus Missile? You mean the very same one that the US government just created off the line?"

"The one and only," Two Face said lowly, but more to himself than anyone else.

Manheim laughed, "That's ridiculous. That missile is a top-of-the-line nuclear warhead. It's incredibly lightweight, high speed, and run by a virtual intelligence. There is no way that heavily guarded bomb made its way onto the black market, especially without every big name terrorist in the world knowing about it."

Even Artemis could connect the dots he couldn't. It wasn't reported stolen because if the public found out, it would cause mass hysteria and panic. Something that not even words of comfort could soothe. No one gave him an answer and Manheim's face changed to shock when Shade continued, "Word has it that you, Deathstroke, are the one to see about it."

All heads turned to the masked man. He answered him back in a deep voice, "I'm afraid that your information is misguided, Mr. Swift. You see, my employer has interests in the Cerberus missile as well."

Shade instantly glared at Slade for using his real name. It was obvious that Slade was patronizing him purposefully in front of everyone by calling him that. She had no idea how he knew his name, but she wasn't surprised at all. She landed her eyes on Slade and sat eagerly waiting for the information she had come for tonight, but something suddenly shifted her attention.

One of Slade's men walked up behind him and began to whisper something discretely into his ear. She was too far away to read his lips, and tried to quickly adjust the recorder to pick it up. However, the man backed away a moment later, returning to his place. Slade's appearance didn't change at all, leaving Artemis to wonder if he really heard anything.

At the same time, one of the men near Slade unfolded his arms and leaned down. He picked up a briefcase that was sitting at his feet, the whole time his eyes darted between Shade and Deathstroke. His posture changed and it looked as though he were ready to march. He was short and though he tried to stand tall, everything about him screamed submissive. There was something different about this man compared to the rest of Slade's men. The way he was reacting to talk of the missile was suspicious.

While her attention was completely on the action below, she was startled when she heard a very faint beep came from her palm pilot. For a fraction of a second her breathing stopped in alarm. It wasn't loud enough to grab the attention of those beneath her, but that's not what worried her. It shouldn't be making any sound at all right now. She quickly pulled it out and saw a loading bar with the words 'corrupting files' above it.

Her eyes widened at the sight. This sort of thing had never happened before. This wasn't normal and this device was supposed to be incorruptible. No. No, she was getting hacked.

Frantically hitting the side buttons for any sort of response, the bar continued to fill up. In a matter of seconds, her screen went black, and it wasn't just the screen either, it was the whole device. She could not do anything about it, her pilot had just been hacked. She frantically looked down to judge the faces of those beneath her, half expecting at least one to be looking in her direction with a gun in hand. But there were no faces pointed in her direction and there was nothing that suggested it was one of them.

Confusion swept through her. If it wasn't one of the criminals below her, then who hacked her? Suddenly, the screen dimly lit up as faint red words spread across it, words that weren't supposed to be there.

_You're not answering your com. _

She creased her forehead as she reread the message. What?

It beeped again and this time a small keypad appeared on the screen. After a very short moment of juggling the possibilities, she realized that if it wasn't the criminals below her that did it, there was only one other person she could think of that could get past a firewall like that, Nightwing.

She didn't understand his message. There was supposed to be radio silence, and why was _he_ sending her this? She reached up to open a line and her breath caught with what she found. The line was off. Grabbing it from her ear, she examined the ear piece. It was still working, but since it was off, it could only mean one thing.

She squeezed the ear piece in frustration. Back when she closed the line, she must have unknowingly shut it off. How could she be so stupid? It was such a rookie mistake that could have cost her a lot more than not being able to reach her team.

Glancing back down at the waiting screen she typed back. Unable to reach her or not, she still had things under control.

_'I didn't know it was shut off.'_

_Didn't know?_

There was a moment of hesitation before he sent another message.

_You went in alone. That was dangerous and it was not part of the plan._

_'I have things under control here. Bringing more people would have risked us getting caught. Besides, it was left up to my judgement.'_

_It doesn't matter, Artemis. Everyone is in the dark. I'm thinking about sending someone in there with you._

How dare him. She glared at the use of her name, and suddenly knew where this was going. This was turning into a lecture. She didn't have the time or patience for this, especially right now.

_'If you care about the success of this mission, don't. My com is back on. Things here are under control. I'll send the signal when I get something.'_

She put the device back into her pocket, not caring about what ever message he was about to send. If the roles were switched and he was here instead of her, no one would be putting up such a fuss. She was just as skilled as he was. Bottling up her frustration, she turned her attention back down to the meeting below her.

Her thoughts stopped short and she did a double take of what she saw, or rather, what she didn't see. Slade was gone. She searched the rest of the room to find it lacking an assassin. The deal was still carrying on and his men still seemed to be present but he wasn't. Out of instinct her eyes darted towards the door she had come through, half expecting it to open.

A second later, the door that Slade had come through earlier opened again. Slade entered but this time his stride was hastened. Everyone stopped and stared at him. A voice she could not recognize spoke out.

"What's going on? No one's allowed to leave until the deal is done."

"Unfortunately, we're going to have to cut this one short. Our position has been compromised."

Everyone's posture in the room rapidly changed. Instantly stressed voices filled the air and people started moving.

"What?! How?!" yelled Two Face.

"Someone has been watching us."

Instantly, Artemis thought it was her. She reached for a weapon as she watched Slade pull out a gun. But he didn't point it at her. He pointed it at Two Face. Two Face froze and narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me, Two Face. How hard did you check the backgrounds of the men you brought in for protection?"

Two Face remained silent as Slade shifted his gun a little towards the right. Two Face looked in the direction he was aiming, as did the rest of the people standing near him. One of his goons looked quickly between faces. He lifted his hands up slowly in surrender.

"Are you telling us this idiot brought a cop in here?!" yelled Black Mask.

Slade didn't answer and without hesitation, he gunned the man down. He fell to the floor lifelessly with a thud. Everyone hesitated for a moment before rushing to a door on the far side of the room.

Two Face stood still for a moment, his face full of rage. With bound fists, he stepped over his now dead hired man and strode towards the door without another word or glance at anyone.

Artemis reached for her palm pilot to send the signal. This operation was now blown. What a waste of time and energy. She was suddenly furious that ended the way it did. Now, how on earth were they supposed to find out the whereabouts of the missile at this point? Slade holstered his gun and stood still. However, when the man with the briefcase turned tail to run, Slade grabbed the collar of his shirt roughly to stop him. He brought his face closer to his and though she couldn't hear it, she knew Slade was telling him something.

She changed her mind and reached for the recorder, desperately trying to zero in on their conversation. Once it was, she listened intently.

"...need to get to the roof!" said the man.

"You're not going anywhere," answered Slade harshly.

There was some static and Artemis quickly adjusted it as her ears began to hear the information she came for. A sentence out of him confirmed that he was the one that knew about the bomb. He was the one they were looking for. Her face suddenly changed, though, as she listened to the conversation carry on. She furrowed her eyebrows in shock. No, that was impossible.

She couldn't believe the words being passed between the two. There was no way. But it became clear as Slade continued that what she was hearing was no lie. What Slade was saying to the man was a complete game changer. It was going to alter everything they knew about this case. She was ninety percent sure that no one else knew about the things they were talking about, not even the police.

After a few more seconds of speech, Slade released the man who was now pale faced. Even though she was in shock of what she just heard she fixed the recorder in her belt. There was more than enough information on there to stop them. She needed to get this to someone, and fast.

She hit the signal that would tell her team that they had what they came for. Her hesitation in sending it earlier had not been wasted. The information she had was of far more worth than the things the scattering criminals below had to offer.

Her palm pilot beeped signaling that it went through. She was about to get up and leave but one last glance toward Slade made her stop short. Something made a noise in one of his pockets. He took out a small device and after a second of staring at it, Artemis's breath stopped as he slowly looked up at her. For a moment, she was frozen in his stare. How-?

Instantly Slade lifted his gun and fired. Artemis barely had time to react as she desperately tried to dodge the bullets. She gripped the handle of the door ready to burst through when a bullet suddenly grazed her arm. She ran into the hallway and bit down as the pain momentarily shocked her. Without stopping she reached and hit her com.

"Tigress to team. I know who the supplier is and he's heading to the roof on my location."

Quickly, she reached down and grabbed her palm pilot to turn it off. She didn't know how Slade knew she was in the spot she was in. As soon as she sent the signal he found her. Knowing that it had something to do with her device, she wasn't taking any chances.

"Come on!" She silently screamed. The shutdown was taking too long.

She faintly heard a loud bang of some sort as something shook the floor beneath her. A moment later, she could hear a helicopter approaching outside from the north. The device still hadn't shut off. She didn't have time for this!

Without hesitating, she slammed it against the wall with her good arm, effectively breaking it. After slipping it back into her pocket, she sprinted towards the door to the roof ignoring yet another pain in her other arm.

She kicked the door down and was met with a huge gust of wind from a chopper flying too close to the ground. Her hand flew up to block the wind from her eyes as she scouted the area around her. A figure at the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was the man with the briefcase running like a mad man towards the edge of the building roof. Artemis ran after him.

However, she skidded to a stop when guns shots came from the helicopter. They were not shooting at her, though.

"Stop shooting you fools it's me!" the man screamed.

While they were momentarily distracted, she grabbed something from her belt and threw it as hard as she could at the helicopter. The magnet on it secured it to the hull. It lit up and suddenly the helicopter's engine shut down. The small EMP effectively rendering it useless. A moment later, the helicopter turned on its side as it fell to the side of the building, crashing to the ground three stories below them.

The man was momentarily shocked from the large boom and was flipped backward onto his stomach, now facing Artemis, who was headed straight for him. He momentarily looked at her in fear before struggling to get up. He put his hands in front of him as she neared.

"Wait wait wait wait WAIT!" He pleaded.

She roundhouse kicked him and he flew backwards. When he fell to the ground with a pained grunt, she kneeled down and placed one knee on his neck. He tried to struggle when she put pressure on it.

"I'm only going to tell you this once- Stay down if you know what's good for you," she said in a low voice.

He stilled and she stood up. "Don't get up."

He continued to stay belly flat on the cement. Once she deemed the area secure, she reached for her com.

"This is Tigress, I have-"

She stopped short on her sentence. Not because she had suddenly seen something out of place, but because of what she heard behind her. With barely enough time to register it, she heard a rush of air from behind her.

From her training and a mixture of her knowledge of velocity and experience, she knew that whatever it was, was going for her head. She ducked in time to avoid it, but before she could come up with another evasive maneuver, her gut was impacted with a heavy boot. She flew back and landed hard on her side. Being caught off guard, the wind was momentarily knocked out of her.

"Such a clever girl," said a silky voice from behind her, "I knew someone was onto my trail, but I never guessed it was you."

She turned her head to find Slade standing five feet away from her tall, and undisturbed. She couldn't manage words because she was still trying to catch her breath so she settled for a hard glare. She reached for something in her belt but was met with a foot that came out of nowhere. Her wrist was kicked, knocking a gas pellet from her grip. Slade then pinned his foot on her chest and leaned his weight down.

She quickly took a breath to stop her breath from leaving as the crushing weight pressed on her lungs.

"I must admit, I didn't think you would get this far once I found that it was you hiding in the shadows."

The man lying on the ground began to get up when he saw Slade, but he froze as Slade addressed him without looking back in a harsh voice, "Hold still."

"Just using some of the skills you taught me," she mocked.

Slade didn't move an inch. "I'm flattered. Going in alone even though you knew the risks. Going after _me_ alone."

She threw her leg up and twisted. She expected her heel to land hard into his side, but he dodged it. She flipped up onto her feet and readied herself in a defensive stance.

"It worked."

"Yes, you made it in. You successfully listened to the arms deal we had. But at this point, I'm afraid you've dug yourself into a hole you won't be able to get out of."

She swings at him and he dodges again. But before she could bring her arm back he savagely gripped her wrist mid air and turned her momentum back on her. Before she can react he twists her arm, effectively twisting her torso along with it.

Using his other hand to grab her free one, he slams her back into his chest and squeezes. She gasps as his tight grip does not relent.

"I can't let you take this man, Artemis, or the information you stole."

He reached down towards her belt, going straight for the pocket with the recorder. Alarm swept through her and though her ribcage was nearly crushed, she swung her right leg high into the air.

Her boot impacted hard into his metal mask, the clash exploding through the air. His mask absorbed the shock but the momentum threw him backwards, all while releasing his deathly grip on her. She landed on her feet, and wasting no time in his distraction, she kicked him hard in the gut. He fell to the ground but rolled onto his feet a second later.

He turned on the offensive and lunged at her. She was ready and stepped back as he threw his fists at her. She dodged his blows and though she was moving backwards, it was clear his swings were not as hard as the first ones he dealt her. Something was wrong, he was not trying to hit her.

"I'm impressed. Your technique has improved since we last met."

Artemis growled, "Why are you toying with me?!"

Her people were no doubt on their way here. You'd think he'd be high tailing it out of there instead of testing her skills. He swung and she dodged a few times more as they continued to back up. Then, in a much more menacing voice, he answered, "Oh, I'm not toying with you."

The punch she had been waiting for suddenly flew through the air. The trajectory was different though and as she dodged it, she realized her mistake and so did Slade. Her chest was left wide open and Slade sent a hard kick to her. The impact made her stumble backwards, but as she started to regain her balance a hand quickly gripped her neck as she was pushed backward.

Out of instinct her hands flew up to relieve the pressure he was putting around her neck with his grip. Her feet suddenly fell from under her and she realized that he was hanging her off the edge of the roof. Quickly moving her legs she was only just barely to put enough pressure on her toes as she glued them to the edge to relieve what was on her neck.

However, it wasn't enough and she was losing air.

"As much as I am impressed by your performance, you did ruin my operation tonight. And, my dear, it's going to cost you," he said lowly as he gripped harder, effectively cutting off her air.

* * *

The bioship was hovering in a street way as a few of its occupants quickly exited it, heading in different directions. Nightwing's hair was blowing furiously in the cold air that was being picked up, but he remained undisturbed by it. Police were storming in at the north and their job was to stop those who escaped their grip. He was about to jump off onto the street when he heard his com beep.

He tapped the line and a loud voice filled his ears, "Nightwing, Tigress found the supplier! They're on the roof of the East bend."

"Are you almost there?"

"No, we're covering the South. Listen, she's not answering again, but this time her com is on. I think she's run into trouble up there. How close are you?!"

He glanced at the street they were in. It didn't really matter how close they were, Artemis found what they had all come for. He quickly answered back, "Closer than you. You guys keep doing what you're doing."

"Yes, sir!"

The line ended and Nightwing turned to see who was still in the bioship. He stopped Robin and Beast boy before they could jump out. "Can either of you two fly this thing?"

"Why, where are we going?" Asked Robin.

"To get the supplier. He's a few blocks from here."

Robin answered again, "I can fly it that far."

Truthfully, Nightwing could fly it himself, but if there really was trouble on the roof top, he needed to be ready to jump out.

They all ran back in and it didn't take long for them to become airborne again. As the ship lifted they began to scan the roof tops. Faintly, Nightwing wondered what sort of trouble Artemis had run into. She was a skilled fighter, but it was always best to be safe than sorry.

"There I see her!" Shouted Beast Boy.

Nightwing followed his pointed finger and saw two figures fighting on a roof top. Artemis was one of them but he couldn't recognize the second from this distance, but he was moving fast, very fast. Artemis seemed to dodge many of his blows but occasionally it was a close call.

"Charging weapons," said Beast Boy.

"No! You'll hit Artemis," injected Nightwing.

He looked back through the viewer in time to see the assailant kick Artemis hard in the abdomen then charging at her only to grab her neck and hang her off the building edge. Nightwing quickly spoke but his eyes never left the scene in front of him.

"Can you get in closer?"

"Working on it."

The bioship lowered close enough to the roof to jump from. Not wasting any time, Nightwing jumped through and landed hard on the cement, his escrima sticks ready. The whole time watching in the distance as Artemis was able to reach far enough to throw her captor off balance momentarily. She pulled herself back onto the roof edge, but only barely.

Nightwing began heading in her direction. Her assailant seemed to swipe his hand across her waste. She attempted to dodge him, but couldn't due to the lack of room. She looked down off the ledge momentarily before facing her assailant. And for the first time in a long time, he saw distress in her eyes. A look that had not crossed her face in years. Even though Nightwing was in a hard run. Time seemed to slow down as he witnessed what happened next.

With a swift kick to her chest, Artemis slipped from the roof's edge. She reached out, but there was nothing to grab on to, and a moment later, she disappeared as she fell to the ground.

"Artemis!"

* * *

A/N: O.O what have I done?


	3. Fall Part lll

A/N: So…I'm sorry I haven't updated in a month. It's actually a good thing because I had a massive string of ideas on how to make this story better. I basically had to alter the plot line and rewrite entire chapters. It's all good now though so no worries.

Oh, you guys are awesome, and thank you for the reviews.

* * *

**Into Oblivion**

_Fall _

_Part 111_

The sound of books clashing to the ground pulled him from his sleep. With a jolt, Doctor Reid sat up and gazed around the room confused, sleepy and unaware of where he was. After a moment he recognized the large room he was in and sighed. Feeling his eyes begin to droop again, he reached up and rubbed them tiredly. He had pulled all-nighters plenty of times before. It didn't make sense that he was this tired this early in the night, well, early for him.

His eyes flicked towards a man that poked his head around the corner before entering the room. He nodded towards his approaching colleague. The other doctor leaned down and picked up the books that had fallen off the table, the ones he had forgotten about.

"Thank you," he said.

"No problem. You know, Dr., you can take the night off. You've been working a lot lately, and it's starting to show. I'll cover you."

"No, I have things I need to do."

The other doctor turned and gazed around the room full of sleeping machines and empty beds.

"I can tell," he sighed. He was obviously tired as well. "It's a nice gig what we have going here, it's just a shame we hardly have any patients to do our job with. You know, I've considered going back to a hospital."

"We didn't come here to treat patients."

"I know. We are here because the League funds our research. Treating patients, if any, is just a side job to what we do," he said flatly.

Doctor Reid gave him a small smile, "Don't worry, kid. Research has its perks. Things will get better eventually."

The young doctor nodded and yawned, "Well, if you are staying, I'm going to clock out for the night. I'll see you tomorrow."

He turned on his heel and left the room. Dr. Reid turned back to the papers scattered on the table that he had fallen asleep on earlier. It really was great to work for the League, but the young doctor had a point – things could get stale around here sometimes. Triple pay, free funding, and working with such diverse people made the job worth it though.

Finding where he left off, he quickly got back into the flow of information almost robotically. He knew he shouldn't spend as much time there as he currently was. Running on fumes was dangerous when trying to come up with calculations. Call it an obsession, but the research he was doing was going to change the world. Or at least, that's what every researcher hoped for.

His steady thought stream was suddenly interrupted and he could hear a commotion going on outside down the hall. They were loud voices he didn't recognize and they seemed to be debating something. The Doctor ignored it and continued on, but after a minute the voices got a little louder.

In the middle of the night, working with sleep deprived people, tempers could get testy. Though everyone kept a professional manor around here nearly all the time, it wasn't uncommon for people to argue every once in a while.

Not wanting the distraction, he stood up and walked to the door, intending to close it. He was about to pull the latch when he stopped. The voices were turning into yells, and stressed ones too. This wasn't normal, and it sounded as though something may break out. For a moment, he deemed that it was none of his business and wanted to stay, but his curiosity and concern made him step into the hall.

He headed toward the banter, faintly wondering if he should call security; there was a hint of rage in the yelling. He didn't expect to see what he did when he turned the corner, and it stopped him flat in his tracks.

They were in one of the smaller transporter halls with a few offline teleporters lining the wall. There were three maintenance workers standing close to one, but two of them were slowly backing away in fear. Superboy threw his hands on the maintenance worker standing in front of him. Grabbing him by the collar, he threw him to the ground on the side then headed for the control panel the man was blocking him from. The doctor suddenly stopped breathing at the sight. Not because Superboy was angry, but because of what he was going to do.

It was dangerous working with technology like instantaneous travel. There were so many things people still didn't understand about how it works. They've done the best they could, but it's not exactly the safest way to travel. The teleporters had been shut down nearly a week ago because one of the League's enemies had hacked the signal. They had sent some 'troops' through, but they were stopped eventually with no major damage.

However, the threat was still there. They were trying to figure out how they got through in the first place and how to fix it. In the meantime, it was far too dangerous to risk sending people through on either side; everyone was forbidden to use them. And Superboy was turning it on.

As if the worker on the ground were reading his thoughts, he shouted at Superboy again, "Are you crazy?! You could get us all killed!" Superboy was typing in a code on the panel. The frantic maintenance worker stood up, favoring his right shoulder and shouted again, "We have no idea what they did to the system! They could hack the signal and send a bomb through for all we know!"

Superboy ignored them and slammed his fist on one of the controls.

"No!"

One of the other maintenance workers stood for a moment in shock, but then ran quickly across the room and pulled the alarm. The room darkened as red emergency lights flashed on and an ear-piercing screech filled the air. It was too late to stop it though. The doctor backed up in fear as the machine began to spin, and covered his eyes as a bright light filled the room.

* * *

_Ring ring ring_

Dinah opened her eyes at the sound of her phone going off. Oliver stirred next to her, mumbling something about being woken up in the middle of the night. She looked across the room at her phone on the dresser and sighed. She sat up and put her legs over the edge and debated whether or not it was worth walking across the room for.

"Let it go to voice mail," Oliver mumbled sleepily. He reached out and lazily grabbed the back of her tank top, "Don't leave me."

"It's two in the morning."

"Which is why you should leave it."

She stood up and walked across the floor to the dresser, "People don't just call this early in the morning for no reason." Whatever it was may be important; or at least, it better be.

"Always the optimist," he said jokingly.

She answered her phone with an annoyed 'hello', wondering who could be calling at this time of night. Her dazed mind suddenly woke up when she heard Barry's voice, but it wasn't just his voice that made her open her eyes, it was the stressed tone of it.

"Dinah?"

"Yes?"

"Dinah, it's Barry. Listen, you need to get to the Justice Hall now," he said rushed.

Oliver seemed to notice her posture change and sat up looking at her with open eyes. She looked straight at him as she continued, "Why? Barry, it's-"

He cut her off, "I know it's late, but you need to get here _now_."

The urgency in his voice made her realize that this was no ordinary call. Sometimes leaguers would get called in late to handle a situation. It was her and Oliver's night off and people knew that. They could have called anyone else in. The fact that they know this and were still calling meant it was something more. Something was wrong.

"There's been an accident-" he stopped short in his sentence.

Oliver recognized the stress in her eyes, and threw the sheets over him and stood up.

Barry continued in a lower voice, "It's Artemis. You and Oliver need to get here."

Her mind seemed to stop short and she could feel a mixture of panic and worry building up. She quickly took control of it though. She knew how to control her emotions for the most part. The stress of being a hero demanded that she do that. However, her jaw still clenched and worry was already spreading through her.

She hung up without another word and headed straight for the closet.

Artemis wasn't her daughter, but she had come to Dinah for advice for a very long time now. They were close so much that she and Oliver considered her family now, regardless of blood or age. Barry didn't say what happened, but he didn't need to. The tone in his voice told her that whatever it was, is bad.

"What's going on?" asked Oliver as he followed her.

"It's Artemis. She's at the Justice Hall. Something happened."

"What? What happened?"

In a heavier voice she spoke, "I don't know." Dinah hesitated as she considered her answer and the gravity of it. Barry didn't say. She could only imagine what this meant.

* * *

Though he couldn't hear it, he was sure that the roof was shaking due to the bioship landing a little too hard and a little too fast. With a sudden jolt, they knew they were on the ground. The door opened and everyone in the cabin quickly stood up in silence. Beast boy was holding his right arm, injured slightly. Usually, after a mission like this he would have endless things to say about it, but he was quiet. And it wasn't his arm that was keeping his voice absent.

With the team following him, Nightwing walked onto the helipad on top of the Hall of Justice in a slight daze. His feet were moving almost mechanically towards the doors. He couldn't quite place his mood. His mind seemed to be over loaded with information, and it was as if his subconscious was doing all the thinking, leaving his thought process unusually empty. He had taught himself to revert to this state in stressful times. It kept his mind clear, for the most part.

He'd been here before, plenty of times. This feeling was not exactly foreign.

"Any news?" Robin asked quietly.

Without looking for it, pictures began to fill his mind against his will. Pictures of Artemis fighting Deathstroke then falling from the edge of the building. Pictures of him making the choice to let Deathstroke escape and running to her, only to find her lying nearly lifeless and broken on the ground. Pictures of him making a choice that was going to cost him a lot if things went south. Pictures of another close friend falling victim to this line of work.

He reached his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose, dread filling his chest. He has seen people pull through some horrific accidents, but the state Artemis was in… He pushed back the invading fear and said in a flat voice, "None."

Did he really need to speculate? He had an idea of the news that was waiting for them through the doors.

The doors opened into a large hall. It was the night shift and so it was emptier than usual, but the people in there looked straight at him with gawking stares. He had an idea why. Without stopping he headed towards someone that would know what's going on. He turned back to the team and told them to stay there and wait. Usually, they would put up a fuss for being told what to do, but they were silent and stopped following him.

"Where is the Flash?" he asked as he approached one of the workers. Flash was the Leaguer on duty tonight. If anyone knew the situation, he would.

"He's, uh," he began, but suddenly took a step back as his eyes looked past Nightwing and widened.

The look of the man's face automatically made him tense up. Just as he turned to see what the man was looking at in fear, a massive hand violently grabbed his chest and neck. Lifting him into the air, he slammed Nightwing into the wall so hard that it left a huge dent and the entire room was filled with a massive _bang._

His hands instinctively reached up to his neck to relieve the pressure. With a throbbing pain piercing through his backside, he looked down at his assailant. He scowled when he recognized him. It was Boulder, a new guy who was a good nine feet tall and much bigger than Superman. Ideas to wrestle out of his grip ran through his thoughts, but he hesitated for a moment, trying to get some air into his now crushed chest.

"You idiot! You could have gotten us all killed!" he screamed in a booming voice that turned every head in the room. "Those teleporters were shut off for a reason!"

Nightwing clenched his jaw in frustration. He didn't have time for this.

Suddenly, a darker voice from behind him spoke, "Boulder, drop him."

Both of them turned to see the dark knight standing behind Boulder and though he was smaller than him, the look on his masked face was much more menacing. Boulder turned back and stared at Nightwing while tightening his grip, "This guy is guilty of putting every life in here in danger!"

"I said, drop him," Batman said in a firmer tone.

For a moment, Boulder just scowled at Nightwing before releasing his bone crushing grip. Nightiwing landed on his feet and absentmindedly rubbed his neck as he watched Boulder walk away. Hyped up on adrenaline, part of him wanted to pick a fight with the guy. However, he pushed those thoughts aside, leaving him flustered and frustrated. Batman turned and started walking towards a hall not even asking him if he was okay. How typical.

Ignoring the stares of everyone in the room, he caught up with him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I was working a case nearby."

Nightwing didn't say anything as they continued to walk down the hall. Batman continued in response to his silence, "I was working a case nearby when I got a call that one of the teleporters had been activated."

Nightwing sighed in frustration. Was he really about to lecture him for this? Batman had to know the reasons why he did it. There was nothing he could say that that would stop it, so he just silently fumed as Batman continued, "There was only one line that could be used for transport. One line that could only be used once. The reason I gave you the codes to that line was so that in case of an emergency here, you could evacuate people, not bring people in."

Nightwing stopped in his tracks. He knew exactly what he was doing when he called Superboy and gave him the codes to open the line, "What was I supposed to do? Let Artemis die in my arms when I knew I could do something?"

Batman stayed silent. After a moment, Nightwing shook his head in disbelief, "You're unbelievable sometimes. I'm not you. I can't do something like that and live with myself. I made a choice, and I am not going to regret it."

He was slightly surprised that he threw that jab at him, he rarely picked a fight with him. For some reason he went from zero to sixty, but he wasn't about to feel guilty for saving one of his friends. Batman stayed silent, and he was not about to let himself be intimidated by it. He stared right back at him.

The tension in the air was interrupted as Flash walked up to the two. "Batman. What are you-"

"It doesn't matter," he cut in.

"Where's Artemis?" Nightwing asked, suddenly unsure if he wanted the answer.

He hesitated. "She's in the hospital wing."

"Is she okay?"

Is she okay? What a ridiculous question…

"I don't know. The doctors are with her, but I'm telling you- I've never seen someone in that kind of shape here."

He nodded, that's all he could do.

"I need to speak to you," Flash said to Batman. They started walking down the hall, but Nightwing stayed put.

He couldn't help but feel the full pressure of the situation pressing down on him. He wanted to do something to help, but he knew at this point he was useless. He could only wait. He turned to head towards the hospital wing, but as he did his gaze ran across the TV on the wall. He recognized what they were showing. It was the shipyard they were at earlier, much of it now crawling with police and firefighters putting out flames. He listened as the anchor spoke.

"-sources say that a vigilante was gravely injured at the sight. There has been no comment from the Justice League yet as to the identity of the fallen hero."

* * *

The sound of opening doors filling the silent hall woke Dinah from her doze. Her eyes were heavy as watched a doctor approaching. Oliver woke up too and both of them stood, ready to receive the news they had been waiting for.

"Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance?" he asked.

There were very few people that knew of their identities, only a handful really, but the doctors here knew them. They had to if they were to treat heroes coming in with horrific injuries.

"Yes?" said Oliver. "You've been with her for four hours. How is she?"

He shook his head. "By some miracle, we've stabilized her, but she's not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot."

"What does that mean?" asked Dinah.

"She does not have any next of kin, and she signed a waver saying that you two are the ones to consult if she couldn't make decisions for herself. I will explain in details later, but the fall took a heavy toll on her back. We have a theoretical way to save her, but we need your consent."

"Theoretical? That's it?!" Oliver said with anger in his voice. Dinah put a hand on his arm, and the touch seemed to calm him slightly. She didn't blame him though.

"We've never had a situation this bad before, and she is beyond the point of being saved through conventional means."

He explained the process they wanted to try further and at first Dinah was very hesitant. There was no guarantee it would work, but the more the doctor continued to tell them of her situation, the more she realized that they didn't really have a choice.

The doctor was silent for a moment. "She's going to die if we don't try something, and this is the only thing we can do at this point. I'm sorry."

He held out the consent form with a pen and waited. For a moment, all she could hear was the ticking of a clock on the wall. She looked over at Oliver and could tell he had come to the same conclusion as her. They didn't have to consider the consequences of each decision, there was only one they could choose. Feeling a heavy weight bear down on her chest, she swallowed. Oliver put an arm around her shoulder for comfort and support. With stiff hands, she reached out and signed the paper.

* * *

A/N: How far would you go to save someone you cared about?


	4. Glass Eyes

A/N: I want to give a shout out to krikanalo, noaverageangel, nightwing-girl, Moonshadow1456, Halestrom, and…Guest? You guys are awesome.

This is the last build up chapter. Fear not, romance is on the horizon.

* * *

**Into Oblivion**

_Glass Eyes_

It was kind of tannish-white. Whatever she was looking at was that soft kind of glow. It wasn't warm, but it looked like it was, and it was enough to keep her content. Her mood was a blissfully unaware one. Why? She hadn't a clue. She stared forward as little spots of tan would appear and disappear. Whatever this was, she liked it.

Though, just as she was starting to enjoy the sight a sudden blackness flashed across her vision. She didn't like it. It happened again and this time she heard a beep. The glow was starting to disappear. With each beep and black flash, it faded. She reached towards it but it vanished suddenly.

It was as though something started draining the strength from her suddenly. She tried to move but couldn't. In a moment of sudden realization, she knew that she was asleep. With great effort she opened her eyes.

When she did a bright light invaded her vision. The sensation of it was something close to salt water being poured into her eyes. She closed them again, but this time a little more aware and focusing on the sounds around her. She could hear a steady beep sound each second. There was some sort of generator hum somewhere around her. She opened her eyes again and tried to collect her thoughts. When her eyes adjusted, she momentarily thought they were playing tricks on her.

Her eyes opened to a flower on a stand next to her. There was a rose next to her. A pink rose with red tips. There were other flowers behind it, but the lone flower stood out. She knew this rose. It was the same one Nightwing had given her for Valentine's Day. She smiled without really thinking about it. He really wasn't going to miss a year, was he? She stared at the beautiful, lone flower for a moment longer. She wasn't exactly in a sad mood like she would expect to be, but the sight made her happy. However, after staring at it for a moment her brows slowly began to furrow.

It shouldn't be there, it wasn't Valentine's Day, not yet. It was only December. As she put more thought into it and stared harder at the flower it was as though someone had opened her mind and started pouring logic in at a rapid rate. Her eyes began to widen and she started to take in the rest of the room.

Pulling her sight from the flower, her eyes darted around the room, rapidly taking in every detail she could as fast as she could. Curtains, heart monitor, medical supplies on a counter next to her. She was in a...hospital?

She did a double take. There were some awfully high tech things in there just to be a hospital. Haulo screens, advanced machinery. But never mind that, why was she here? What was going on? She closed her eyes and she didn't have to focus on her breathing to know that she was becoming stressed. The heart monitor next to her began to beep at a more rapid rate.

Questions began to stir in her mind. It was difficult though, and her thoughts were clouded. As she thought harder, her questions became more serious, and the gravity of them began to overwhelm her. She didn't recognize this place and she was alone. She attempted to reach up to place a hand on her face, but something stopped her. She tried again and found that hand she tried to move was latched onto a bed. A hospital bed she was lying in. She looked down and her heart stopped. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

Both of her legs were casted and some sort of device was on either side, latching them down. There was another contraption latched onto many places on her torso from her legs all the way to her shoulders. She could tell that whatever it was was designed to keep her completely and totally stationary. Her neck was also loosely braced.

To say she was scared by the sight was an understatement. She was terrified. A sudden idea came to her and she closed her eyes, attempting to wake from this bad dream. But it didn't feel like a dream, there was too much pain. Her mind did a rapid search for an explanation for this, pulling frantically at memories that could shed any light. But something was wrong, her mind was so cloudy. She couldn't remember anything. That fact only worsened her worried state. Opening her eyes and looking again only stressed her out more.

Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, she reached up to her neck brace. It was trapping her, and she couldn't breathe. It was meant for support; what type? She didn't know, and she didn't care. All she knew was that it was suddenly constraining her. She messed with the grip for a moment and when she couldn't find a place to release it, she panicked. She finally grabbed at and ripped it off. What she didn't expect was the horrific pain that shot through her torso when she tried to turn her neck.

It felt something close to someone shoving twelve inch scorching needles down her spine. The pain was so fierce it literally took her breath from her. A gasp escaped her and she was barely able to see someone enter the room. They froze in the doorway, but then rushed over to the bedside. She looked up and recognized the face. It was Black Canary, Dinah.

"Artemis, you're awake!"

She wanted to speak to her, but the words caught in her throat. She clenched her jaw as she moved her neck back to where it was, holding back a scream from the pain it brought back as she did. Too busy from recovering from the sting of the pain, she couldn't make out what she was saying, only that she was saying something to her.

"What's happening?" She finally croaked.

She hesitated, "You were in an accident."

"What?"

She tried to move her arms to sit up. Black Canary grabbed her wrist then looked at the monitor, which was beeping at a rapid rate. She tugged at the arm latched to the bedside, but it wouldn't give.

"Artemis, you're delirious. I know you are confused, but you need to calm down."

She looked at her as she tried to continue, but she frantically interrupted, "Get me out of this."

She remained still.

She nearly screamed, "Get this thing off my wrist!"

She sighed in uncertainty but then slowly took off the strain. When her arm was free, her other hand gripped the spot that was under pressure. Her arms, they were so weak. Her ears began to ring.

Worried about what was happening to her she looked up at Black Canary again. She was speaking to her, but she couldn't hear her words. Her lips were moving, but no sound came through.

She didn't even try to search for a memory when she was suddenly bombarded by one, or some sort of illusion.

_She was standing on the roof of a ware house looking down at a street below. There were flames in some areas and little patches of ash aflame rose up into the air all around her. She turned in confusion and saw someone throw a punch at her. She dodged, but not fast enough. Her movements were slow. She recognized the mask face of the man trying to hit her. Slade threw another deathly blow in her direction._

_She tried to dodge again but she was slowing down even more. Panic swept through her. A foreign feeling in so many ways. She was trained to keep her cool, to keep calm. She could handle this, why was she becoming so distressed?_

_He gripped her neck and pushed her back to where she was hanging off the ledge. For some reason, she couldn't move. All she could do was stare into the lone, cold blue eye watching her. She saw nothing in it. Cold, blank, nothing. Her mind froze as he released his grip on her. She fell to the inferno beneath her._

She was suddenly yanked from whatever sort of scenario was playing in her head. She was pulled back to the present and in fuller clarity than before. A nurse was staring straight at her while Canary was holding her shoulder down. A few other nurses were at the side of her bed.

They were all staring at her in silence. She was about to question them when she realized she was fiercely gripping onto the hospital bed with one hand and that her other hand was wet. She followed the trail of water and noticed that the rose was gone. Glancing down, she saw a puddle with shattered glass and a lone rose lying on the floor. She did that?

"Artemis?"

She continued to stare at the flower as she realized what happened to her. What memories she could recall were putting themselves into place, and the last thing she could remember was that she fell. Judging by her current situation, no one had been there to catch her. A lump in her throat formed as she considered it.

Again, she wasn't listening to those next to her talking as she tried to put her thoughts together. Two more people entered the room. One of them was a doctor and once she recognized the second, her eyes locked onto him. Nightwing shut the door behind him then headed in her direction right behind the doctor. He walked to the side of the hospital bed, but stopped and looked down.

He had stepped in the glass pile on the rose. For a second he just stared at it then picked up the flower and put it back on the table without a word.

Interrupting what those who were next to her were saying, "What's going on?"

The doctor next to her lightly grabbed her arm and leaned over. In a cooing voice he answered, "Artemis, my name is Dr. Reid," he hesitated, "You've been through a severe accident."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't have to talk about that right now. Can you tell me how you are feeling?"

"I-" she thought about it for a moment, "Sore."

"How bad is the pain?"

She didn't lie. "Bad." Her whole body was aching.

He nodded and turned to the others, "I'm going to give her a mild sedative. When she wakes up-"

"No!" she cut in and lightly grabbed his hand that was gripping the IV. "What happened?"

"Hun, you have just woken up from a coma. We can talk about this later."

Her eyes widened. Coma? What? A few more nurses began to enter the room.

"No, I don't want rest! I want answers."

He just looked at her.

"Can someone just tell me what's going on?"

There was silence, but then the doctor sighed. She turned and stared straight at Black Canary waiting for an answer. She spoke, "What do you remember last?"

She tried to unscramble her thoughts, "I remember fighting Deathstroke. It was on a roof- I remember I was there for the arms deal."

She swallowed. "Artemis, you were pushed from the roof. You fell nearly three stories."

Artemis blinked, starting to feel the onset of shock creeping through her. She had lightly guessed that beforehand, but for some reason, hearing it from someone else made it more real. The doctor pulled up a seat and sat down as he spoke, "Your injuries were so extensive that we had to put you in a medically induced come while they healed."

"How long?"

"Almost three months."

The information was hard to grasp. Her mind was still a little cloudy, but she could understand what was going on around her. However, the idea of _three_ months wasn't making sense. She was in a daze as the doctor continued, "Both your legs were broken. You suffered cerebral hemorrhaging, internal bleeding, broken ribs and a collapsed lung." He sighed, "Your back took the most damage."

She looked at him when he didn't continue. Looking down and seeing the things strapped to her torso suddenly made sense. She swallowed, "How much damage."

All she could think of was a back injury. That meant paralysis. Getting near a thought like that made her ache even more.

"Your spine was shattered. Nearly every bone was either fractured, cracked, or split. A cluster of nerves was torn resulting in muscle damage as well."

She couldn't believe it, literally. It just didn't sound real. These things didn't happen to her, they couldn't have. She felt fine for the most part. These things that happened. They couldn't have…

Suddenly noticing at least ten pairs of eyes gawking at her a small bout of anger and claustrophobia filled her. "I want to talk to Black Canary." No one moved. She looked at the doctor with pleading eyes. "Please," her voice suddenly cracked and she suddenly felt a tear run down her cheek. She didn't even feel tears coming on. What was happening to her?

The doctor and Black Canary locked eyes and she nodded. He turned back to her, "Alright, but I'm going to give you something for the pain." He stood up and got to work. "You are a medical miracle, Artemis. You have gone through hell and I'm not going to let you die of shock. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She didn't argue and just wiped the tear from her face. Her breathing and heart rate were an uncomfortable high, but as soon as the doctor pulled the needle out from the IV, she felt a calmness settle over her. Her mind became foggy, but not enough that she couldn't think. The sensation was invading and it made her feel powerless, but she suddenly lost the will to care. The sudden wave of dread and fear were dampened to the point that it was just a dull ache.

People began to leave the room. She suddenly noticed that there were many people outside in the hall looking through the glass at her, some faces she recognized and some she didn't. Thankfully, one of the nurses closed the blinds, blocking their view. She had almost forgotten he was there when Nightwing turned to leave with the crowd; he hadn't said a word the whole time. Thinking quickly, she reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. He turned and looked at her.

"Stay," is all she says. He nodded and took a step closer.

Once the door closed, she turned her attention straight to Black Canary, "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"We almost lost you, Artemis. The doctor was right when he said that you are a medical miracle. While they were treating you, they were running out of options. They tried something that's never been done before, and it's astonishing that you survived through it."

"What do you mean?"

"Your back wasn't going to heal. If they had patched you up normally, you would have been paralyzed from the neck down." Artemis stared at her with a blank face, not even wanting to consider the possibility of it. She could handle broken bones and a coma better than that. Just the thoughts of it was making her sick.

She shifted her gaze as Nightwing finally spoke up, "They fused your spine with a new type of bio metal. It's working so far and it's keeping your back held together."

She didn't answer back. They let her sit in silence as she took in all the information, which was becoming harder. She knew that what she should be feeling should be more intense, but the drugs were making it hard. What she was just told slipped through her mind. She couldn't decide if it was the drugs or just her putting herself in a catatonic state as the things she was just told were consuming her thoughts.

After a while, Black Canary went on telling her more about the process and what her recovery was looking like while Nightwing put in a word here and there. Artemis tried to pay attention, but occasionally her attention would slip. This was becoming a little too much. This had to be some sort of nightmare, she would even settle for some sort of training exercise. It got to be a little too much when she learned it would be another three months before she could start walking again. Three months confined in a bed.

Black Canary's voice was continually filling with pain as she continued to tell her things like it would take years before she was back to full function, if that. There was some damage that no matter how hard they tried, would never heal. She would struggle with doing simple daily activities such as lifting or even something as simple as bending over for a long time; maybe even the rest of her life.

Eventually, Artemis began to connect the dots. She tried hard to avoid the truth that was bearing down on her, but she couldn't hide from the crushing words that were right in front of her. Drugs or not, her system filled with adrenaline, making her mind clear. It wasn't a good thing, especially right now. She looked into Black Canary's eyes with alarm as she knew what was coming. When she finally spoke the convicting words, it was as if a part of her was ripped away.

Heroics was something she couldn't do any more. She listened with glass eyes as she was told her now broken body wouldn't be able to handle it. She was vulnerable and lucky to be alive, it would be a miracle if she could do a tenth of the things she once did. As Black Canary spoke this, for the first time, she saw tears in her eyes. Seeing the tears in her eyes, her own began to run. She tried so desperately hard to stop them, but how could she? She began to continue, but Artemis couldn't take it anymore.

It was too much.

"Stop," she said in a cracked voice. She had heard enough.

They were quiet as she sat still for a moment, trying to focus on her breathing with thoughts racing through her mind a mile a minute. She wasn't sure how long she sat like that; it could have been hours. As she thought harder in her dazed state, one image passed through that made her thoughts stop. Her tears stopped running and the pain disappeared momentarily. An emotion she couldn't quite recognize began to fill her momentarily blacking out the others. It wasn't anger, it wasn't frustration, but it was something along those lines.

She turned to Nightwing to get the information she had kept him for.

"What happened to the mission?" she asked.

"We don't have to talk about that right now."

"Tell me, please."

He didn't argue further and tilted his head downward slightly. As if reading the question in her eyes he spoke, "It wasn't for nothing. We put a lot of people in custody that night."

"What about Deathstroke?"

Slade. The one that did this to her.

"He escaped."

"How?" she asked, disbelieving.

"We had a choice to go after him, or save you. We chose you."

She shouldn't, but she couldn't help the feeling of enmity towards him. He saved her and she should be grateful, so why wasn't she feeling that way? The heart monitor was speeding up again.

She intended to reach up to rub her eyes when she noticed that she never let go of Nightwing's hand. He had returned her grip gently. She had been gripping it hard, well, as hard as she could in her weakened state. She quickly let go without looking at his face. She leaned back, staring at the ceiling. The ringing in her ears was back. It was distracting, and for a moment, she just listened to it. When she opened her eyes again she saw the doctor standing next to her. She didn't care to wonder where he came from or what he was doing with that needle in his hand. She was too tired to care. She closed her eyes, shutting out the world and welcomed the darkness and nothingness that was waiting.

* * *

A/N: Did you like it? Did you not like it? Let me know. Ask me questions. As you all know, feedback is gold.


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